Silvia Barbone

Vice President, Strategic Partnerships

Silvia Barbone is a sustainable tourism and destination development specialist with more than two decades of international experience spanning strategy, policy and implementation. At the Royal Commission for AlUla she leads the strategic partnerships portfolio, building the institutional and international collaborations that support AlUla's cultural preservation, community benefit and long-term growth as a destination in line with Saudi Vision 2030. Before moving to Saudi Arabia she founded the consultancy JLAG and the Foundation for European Sustainable Tourism (FEST), and developed PM4SD, a project management methodology for sustainable tourism development through which some 300 practitioners have been trained and certified across Europe, North America and Jordan. She designed the Next Tourism Generation Alliance, was selected as one of ten European experts for the EU Tourism Indicator System, and has delivered sustainable development workshops in 23 countries. Her work has involved UN Tourism, UNESCO, IUCN, UNEP, the European Commission, the European Travel Commission, the European Parliament and the World Bank, and she has designed and managed project portfolios worth close to 20 million euros. She previously served as Head of EU Projects and Partnerships at Federturismo Confindustria, founded and directed the European Summer School on Leadership and Governance for Sustainable Tourism, and was managing editor of a newsletter for tourism professionals and policy makers. She holds a master's degree in tourism management.